Fires have been used intentionally in several agricultural projects for a very long time. In a controlled environment, fires have been considered to be very relevant to humankind for them to complete their daily life routines. Agricultural burns involved fires that have been used in outdoor activities to grow crops, raise animals, or control forests ( Nguyen 2019 ). However, agricultural fires have seen to produce various deleterious effects despite their effectiveness and long use by a human being.
Agricultural burning has been proven to damage biodiversity ( Francis, 2019 ). Deforestation has risen due to the direct vegetation removal and clearing forests to allow for planting of crops. Burning of soil leads to loss of habitat for small microorganisms, and severe heat might lead to their death. The main habitats being affected are water land due to pollution and wild animal habitats due to the clearing of the forest. Air pollution has been caused by the release of carbon by burning of agricultural material. This has also caused several accidental fires which lead to unintentional damage of the population. In most areas, waste disposal using burning, a permit is required. Biodiversity has severely degraded due to the use of agricultural fires.
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Despite these disadvantages of using fires in agriculture, effectiveness in its use has been proved in many ways. In agricultural waste disposal, fires have been used to get rid of waste from agricultural companies. Burning materials has proved relevant in the past and an effective method. However, this disposal method has led to air pollution. Slash and burn agricultural farming method employ fires to clear land for planting crops ( Barraclough and Olsson 2018 ). The land with ashes and burnt vegetation is left fertile and cultivated for crop development. Despite its vast use this method has been proven to reduce the fertility of the land after several years of burning. This has led to leaving the land unused for years for it to regain fertility.
Prescribed burns have also been used to improve yield in pastures and sugarcane ( White and Johnson 2018 ). Some pastures require burning of old pastures so that new pastures would grow which have improved quality. Sugarcane farming also employs the use of burning to harvest the sugarcane material for processing. This process has made harvesting of the crop cheaper. Moreover, disease and pest control in agriculture have been done through burning. Burning of fields with sorghum and the incineration of waste products from cotton plantations is necessary to control pest and diseases such as bollworm.
In conclusion, despite the prominent use of agricultural burning, measures have been taken to ensure its reduction. Agricultural extension programs have been created to educate farmers on more sustainable environmental agricultural farming methods. Instead of getting rid of waste materials using burning, methods to create biogas from waste materials have been employed. Agroforestry has been practiced by farmers by encouraging farmers to plant trees where no tree existed to encourage reforestation.
Reference
Barraclough, A., & Olsson, P. (2018). Slash-and-Burn Practices Decrease Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Abundance in Soil and the Roots of Didierea madagascariensis in the Dry Tropical Forest of Madagascar. Fire , 1 (3), 37.
Francis, C. A. (2019). Crop Production Resilience through Biodiversity for Adaptation to Climate Change. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Environmental Science .
Nguyen, Q. D. (2019). Complementarity between Humans and Nature: Adaptive Local Knowledge in a Protected Area of northern Thailand. Environmental Development .
White, P., & Johnson, R. (2018). Improving soil management in sugarcane cultivation. In Achieving sustainable cultivation of sugarcane Volume 1 (pp. 117-130). Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing.
